Monday, December 22, 2014

Johnny Beaudine and Deep Blue -------- The Chi-Town Hustlers

I recently reconnected with JW Williams, one of the founding members of the Chi-Town Hustlers

The Chi-Town Hustlers was/is (versions of the band are still active) a Chicago based blues/R&B band that I played and toured with. At the time I was with band, the members of the group came from the bands of BB King, James Cotton and Bobby Bland among others. One of the vocalists in the band is the great J.W. Williams who is still active in the Chicago blues scene. I checked the Chicago Reader music listings recently and you still see J.W. Williams and the Chi-Town Hustlers at clubs like the Kingston Mines.

One of my favorite Chi-Town Hustler tracks is a jazz/funk version of the War classic "The World is a Ghetto. This track has one of the best tenor sax solos I ever played that actually got recorded. Check it out!

In addition to the Chi-Town Hustlers cover of the Meters classic, "Cissy Strut", I also posted
a great cover version by the Hustlers of the Sam Cook classic "Bring it on Home to Me." This track gets quite a bit of play on Soundcloud.

During my interview on CKUT radio and with Rick Kenne, several tracks by the Chi-Town Hustlers were played, during the course of the interview. They were, "Everyday I Have the Blues", "Rock Me Baby" and "Cissy Strut".

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About Johnny Beaudine

Chicago native John Beaudine has played and toured
with numerous blues legends including James Cotton,
Willie Dixon, Junior Wells, Otis Rush,
Buddy Guy and Matt “Guitar” Murphy of
Blues Brothers fame as well as rock and roll hall
of fame legend Bo Diddley.
After migrating to Quebec, he worked with such artists
as Serge Fiore (Harmonium), Dan Bigras,
and Joey Tardif (Epopee Rock).
Aside from his many studio hours as producer/engineer/performer,
his experiences includes creating scores
for numerous television shows (including the CBC's Just for Laughs series),
and working as an A&R Representative for Mercury Records. He is also the
co-writer (with Serge Fiori) of the score for the film “Une Histoire Inventee” directed by Andre Forcier.